Staff

Who We Are

Our Staff members are the foundation of MOSD, bringing with them a combined 200 years of experience, specialized training, and lots of love for the MOSD students.

Executive Staff

Lauren Hays, Executive Director

Lauren Hays became the MOSD executive director in March 2018. Lauren has served MOSD as development director since 2016 and understands the importance of community support in our efforts to serve children with hearing loss from all over the Mid-South. Ending a 10-year professional career in television, Lauren hopes to increase community support through her established Mid-South networking platform and wishes that everyone will come to realize the life-long impact MOSD programs make in the lives of children who are deaf and hard-of-hearing. Lauren is actively engaged in the Mid-South community and is a graduate of Leadership Germantown, Class of 2018. She is passionate about raising community awareness about MOSD programs and reaching parents of newly diagnosed children with hearing loss. Most importantly, Lauren is the mother of a child with hearing loss currently enrolled at MOSD. She is excited to give hope to other MOSD parents since she experiences the miracle of her child talking every day. Lauren is proud to be an advocate for MOSD to spread the impact of MOSD programs to the community.

Shannon Hall, Principal

Shannon joined MOSD as principal in July 2018. She has more than 26 years of experience in a variety of roles in the educational field. She received her bachelor’s degree in special education at the University of Memphis and quickly began her journey of teaching children with hearing loss over 16 years ago. To pursue and grow her career in deaf education, she was later accepted by the Oberkotter Foundation to complete a newly formed deaf education program in collaboration with the University of Memphis, Memphis Speech and Hearing Center and the University of Tennessee headed by former MOSD Executive Director Joan Ward. After several visits to MOSD, Shannon witnessed amazing transformations taking place daily and desired to become a part of the school. She began her MOSD career working as a preschool teacher for MOSD in a satellite classroom at Lewisburg Elementary in Desoto County. She later obtained a master’s degree in educational leadership at Arkansas State University, which began her career in educational administration. She is extremely passionate about MOSD and working with parents as partners in education.

Administrative Staff

Georgia Bohannon, Development Associate

Georgia joined MOSD in January 2019 as our part-time development associate. She graduated from Rhodes College in 2017 with her bachelor's degree in religious studies. She is currently pursuing her master's in public administration. Prior to joining the MOSD team, she gained development experience through working for the Office of Alumni Relations at Rhodes College. Georgia loves being part of the MOSD team and values the time that she spends at the school. She is always excited to see the ways that the students are empowered to listen, learn, and talk on a daily basis!

Megan Cathey, Marketing & Donor Relations Coordinator

Megan joined MOSD in January 2019 as the marketing and donor relations coordinator. She has lived most of her life in the Memphis area and graduated from Christian Brothers University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2002. Prior to joining the MOSD team she was a technical writer at ServiceMaster for 7 years. Megan is very excited to put her skills to work serving the students and families of MOSD by increasing awareness and community support for all of the wonderful things MOSD does for children who are deaf and hard of hearing!

Kathy Christiansen, Administrative Assistant

Kathy has been with MOSD since 2005 as our administrative assistant. Prior to becoming a part of the MOSD staff, Kathy was a Subsidium member for 27 years, formerly volunteering at the school. Kathy takes great joy in watching the two-year-olds walk through the door and start school for the first time then in four years graduate with the ability to hear and talk, mainstreaming into a normal school setting – quite a miracle!

Cheryl Horton, Director of Business Operations

Cheryl joined MOSD in November of 2014 as our insurance consultant. She has 26 years of experience in insurance billing, business management and accounting. Cheryl was previously employed with a local ENT and audiology practice serving children and adults. As we know health insurance is ever changing, we have children at MOSD who need the support services of speech therapy and aural habilitation therapy to enhance their speech and language development. Cheryl feels it is very important to work closely with the insurance companies, providers, and staff to help the families maximize the most of their benefits. Cheryl loves seeing the smiling faces and progress the students make every day - it is such a rewarding experience. She feels very blessed to be a part of the MOSD family & knows this is right where God intended her to be.

Cheyenne Thompson, Billing Manager/Office Coordinator

Cheyenne joined MOSD in May of 2018 as our billing manager/office coordinator. She graduated from the University of Memphis in the spring of 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in health administration. Prior to joining the MOSD team, she gained valuable experience and knowledge at other local health clinics with emphasis on technology, administrative duties, and insurance billing. Cheyenne is confident in her responsibility to serve clients and families at MOSD. She loves coming to work each day and seeing the children so happy as they learn to listen and talk!

Audiologists

Dr. Elizabeth Domico, Au D., CCC-A, FAAA

Dr. Elizabeth Domico has served MOSD families since 2000 and is dedicated to working with our students to help them hear their very best. With all of the services and education offered, she is overjoyed to see the progress the children make each and every single day. In addition to aural habilitation therapy, Elizabeth provides counseling to parents considering cochlear implantation for their child, to adults thinking about cochlear implantation for themselves, and has been providing cochlear implant activation and mapping services to patients in the Mid-South for over 30 years. She also works with patients interested in osseointegrated hearing aids. Elizabeth feels blessed to be part of the MOSD family!

Dr. Rachel Lunsford, Au.D., CCC-A

Rachel Lunsford has been an audiologist with MOSD since 2017. Prior to this, Rachel worked in a hearing aid private practice helping patients of all ages and their families to meet their hearing health needs. As an audiologist, she enjoys educating individuals with hearing loss and their loved ones about the effects of hearing loss, intervention strategies, and expectations of assistive technology. Rachel is excited to witness the great strides children and adults can achieve with their hearing devices along with aural rehabilitation and habilitation.

Speech-Language Pathologists

Mallory Bruce, M.S., CCC-SLP

Mallory Bruce is a certified speech-language pathologist and joined MOSD in August of 2018. She received her master's degree from the University of Mississippi and has served as a pediatric speech-language pathologist working with families in homes, private schools, and clinic settings. Her favorite part of working with preschool aged children is being able to share in their joy when they achieve a skill they’ve worked so hard to obtain. Mallory is excited to be a part of the MOSD family!

Patricia Greig, M.A., CCC-SLP

Patricia joined the MOSD team in the summer of 2018. She received her master’s degree from the University of Iowa and has served children and their families as a speech-language pathologist within local schools and in roles at an outpatient clinic for 9 years. She loves the energy and excitement of young children and enjoys helping them learn to communicate in their daily life.

Marie Kyle, M.A., CCC-SLP

Marie is a certified speech-language pathologist who joined MOSD in the summer of 2018. She previously gained experience in a local public school district, serving students in pre-k through 8th grade. Her favorite part of helping students develop speech and language is watching each student make progress and become better communicators. She especially loves working with preschool children. Marie is excited to join the MOSD family to help students learn to listen and talk!

Katie McLeod, M.S., CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT

Katie joined the MOSD team in the summer of 2013. She is an auditory-verbal therapist (LSLS Cert. AVT) serving children birth through school age. In addition to providing speech-language services at MOSD, she coordinates and provides family training for our Sound Beginnings program. Katie completed her master’s degree at Vanderbilt University and spent two years at a similar auditory-oral preschool in Nashville, Tennessee. With a bachelor’s degree in Spanish, Katie serves as an interpreter for MOSD parents while promoting bilingual language development for our Spanish-speaking children. She enjoys having the opportunity to work closely with families at MOSD to incorporate listening, language, and speech into every part of the day.

Maureen Noland, M.S., CCC-SLP

Maureen Noland is a speech-language pathologist and has been working at MOSD for since 1990. She provides off-site speech and language therapy to preschool and school-age children. She takes great joy in seeing the progress of her students and being a part of their success in school. Maureen loves being a part of the MOSD family.

Mary Ellen White, M.A., CCC-SLP

Mary Ellen is a speech-language pathologist and joined the MOSD family in August 2011. She loves being a part of helping the children find their voices. Mary Ellen also loves being a part of the fun activities that happen at Memphis Oral School for the Deaf!

Teachers

Cyndi Eaton, B.S. in Elementary Ed. w/ Deaf/HH Endorsement

Cyndi has been a teacher at MOSD since 1996 working hands-on everyday with our children. To her, the children are an incredible inspiration to everyone. With their continued support, the parents and staff add to the amazing atmosphere at MOSD. Cyndi encourages anyone and everyone to visit MOSD so they can see for themselves what a remarkable place it is.

Abby Meister, M.S.D.E., CED

Abby Meister joined the MOSD family in 2012 after receiving her master’s degree in oral deaf education. She enjoys teaching her two and three year old students in the classroom, combining aspects of speech, language, listening, and pre-academic training throughout the school day. Abby loves watching these little ones start the school year with only a few words or sounds and ending it by combining words and sentences! The students at MOSD amaze her every day.

Suzanne Montgomery, M.Ed.

Sue works as a teacher and has been a part of MOSD since 2009. She has many favorite parts about the school, especially her fellow teachers, as everyone is willing to go the extra mile. She loves watching the babies new to the program adjust to school, make friends, and develop new skills. The parents’ commitment to helping their children talk, listen, and learn is awe-inspiring and encouraging, invigorating Sue and her work.

Holly Strasberg, B.S. in Deaf Education

Holly has taught at MOSD since 2011. With a bachelor's degree in oral deaf education from Kent State University, she is inspired by the children and families in our program. She loves being part of the early process as children develop their auditory and language skills. Tracking the children's progress, from using one- to two-word phrases to carrying on conversations and answering complex questions, puts a light in her eye and brings her great joy.

Alyssa Washofer, M.S. Ed., CED

Alyssa was born and raised in California and joined the MOSD team in July 2018. Her own personal hearing loss has motivated her to become a teacher of the deaf and give back to students and families with hearing loss. She wears hearing aids herself and strongly believes in teaching children with hearing loss the auditory and listening skills needed every day. Alyssa earned her bachelor’s degree in communicative disorders from California State University, Fullerton in 2016 and continued her education to earn her master’s degree and teaching certification in deaf education from the John Tracy Clinic in 2017. She is excited to use her personal and educational experiences to work with children and families at MOSD.

Assistant Teachers

Amanda Coile

Amanda joined MOSD in September of 2018. She received her bachelor’s degree with an emphasis in communication sciences and disorders and a minor in education from the University of Mississippi. She has enjoyed getting to know our students and seeing the happiness they have when they achieve their goals that they are working so hard towards. Amanda is excited to be a part of the MOSD team and loves helping the kids learn to listen and talk every day!

Ashley Heath

Ashley Heath joined the MOSD Staff in 2018 as a teacher assistant. Ashley has a long history of supporting MOSD. Beginning in high school, Ashley knew she wanted to help MOSD students learn to listen and talk. She assisted MOSD teachers in classrooms during her summer and winter breaks through college. Ashley received her bachelor's degree from the University of Memphis and has a well-rounded experience of working with children in various schools around the area. Ashley is excited to return to MOSD for the daily rewards she receives through working with our incredible students. She is eager to come to work each day, loves watching students grow and learn, and takes pride in celebrating their language victories.

Samantha Lepkowicz

Ms. Sam has been working with MOSD as a teacher assistant since 2003, loving every minute of it. She takes great joy in seeing the progress made every day, especially since the children are working so hard at such a young age. Ms. Sam lets all visitors know that deaf children really can talk – and if people do not believe her, send them on out and she will show them!

Chelsea Reeves

Chelsea joined MOSD in May of 2016 and has enjoyed getting to know each and every child. She takes great joy in seeing the excitement on the kids faces when they reach new milestones. Chelsea has loved seeing the potential these kids have and seeing the miracles that happen daily!

Privacy Policy

What Information Do We Collect?
When you visit our website you may provide us with two types of information: personal information you knowingly choose to disclose that is collected on an individual basis and website use information collected on an aggregate basis as you and others browse our website.

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Notice of New Services and Changes
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Other email that you may send to us may not be secure unless we advise you that security measures will be in place prior to your transmitting the information. For that reason, we ask that you do not send confidential information such as Social Security, credit card, or account numbers to us through an unsecured email.

How Do We Protect Your Information?
Information Security -- We utilize encryption/security software to safeguard the confidentiality of personal information we collect from unauthorized access or disclosure and accidental loss, alteration or destruction.
Evaluation of Information Protection Practices -- Periodically, our operations and business practices are reviewed for compliance with organization policies and procedures governing the security, confidentiality and quality of our information.
Employee Access, Training and Expectations -- Our organization values, ethical standards, policies and practices are committed to the protection of user information. In general, our business practices limit employee access to confidential information, and limit the use and disclosure of such information to authorized persons, processes and transactions.

How Can You Access and Correct Your Information?
You may request access to all your personally identifiable information that we collect online and maintain in our database by emailing us using the contact form provided to you within the site structure of our website.

Do We Disclose Information to Outside Parties?
We may provide aggregate information about our customers, sales, website traffic patterns and related website information to our affiliates or reputable third parties, but this information will not include personally identifying data, except as otherwise provided in this privacy policy.

What About Legally Compelled Disclosure of Information?
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